Final week of second LDA cycle

August 22, 2006

LDA 3.3 week 6 with Mario and Kat Wiklund

1,2,3,5,6,7 R-L hold open break (forward basic is okay) on 1 and bring follower inwards to right and make L-R connection (offer L hand early - Donna?) – backwards step on 5 and keep connections low (and presumably past leader’s position) and lead follower into 1/2 counterclockwise turn (so this is very much like CBL footwork for follower) with all connections high to get around follower’s head and leader moves into follower’s previous postion and turn clockwise to face follower
1,2,3,5,6,7 prepare (not much of preparation step is required though and certainly no last minute preparation as advised by Helen) and lead follower into stationary double turn (no touch-and-go here)
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break (I think) and bring follower in on leader’s R and turning 1/2 counterclockwise starting on 2 (follower’s turn should end on 3, I think) – do a windmill like motion with R-L temporarily disconnected (actually keeping R hand on follower’s L forearm for much of this windmill motion, which is in full counterclockwise motion – leader is in something like CBL position during this windmill) – leader then steps into follower’s previous position with slight counterclockwise turn to face away from follower with keeping R-L low and L-R over leader’s head to above his L shoulder
1,2,3,5,6,7 step in place as L-R is brought down first then leader turns 1/2 clockwise while bringing R-L straight up (avoid any signal for turn here – bring it straight up and position it so that follower’s in pizza waiter position) – lead follower into single stationary clockwise turn (slow!) starting on 4 with R-L and catch follower’s R shoulder after a full turn with free L hand – let follower recover and lead follower forward (past leader on his R side) for 1/2 traveling counterclockwise turn (again just like end of CBL except now under leader’s arm) leading with both hands – switch from R-L to L-L (leader could end facing away from follower once again although it’s not necessary)
1,2,3,5,6,7 into CBL position (may entail leader turning as much as 1/2 counterclockwise first to face follower) and establish R-R underneath L-L and lead follower into 1 1/2 counterclockwise turn with R-R kept LOW (not sideways but keep it straight down during her turn – also keep the lead continuous and smooth, says Kat) – end with R-R supporting follower’s L arm in a lower than a pizza waiter position (similar to a position seen in week 6 of last session) – R-R is positioned behind follower’s L waist
1,2,3,5,6,7 could try what was done in last session (allow follower to step back on 1 then lead her into full stationary clockwise turn with L-L ending behind follower’s R waist and R-R in pizza waiter position) – what was done today was to lead follower into free clockwise turn (double, triple, whatever) – according to Kat, lead involved in this turn was extremely subtle – you can’t move any of the connections sideways (which will cause her to move towards it) – I think a slight downward lead is okay but even this should be minimal – end with L-L connection behind follower’s R waist

We had 11 men and 8 women today. I felt like I was always without a partner when a new part was being added. It caused a little anxiety but there was no ill effect, and I was able to replicate the moves reasonably and seemingly requiring only minor adjustments.

Once again I drew absolutely no corrections or comments from Mario about my lead. Then again aside from one or two instances in the first 6 weeks, Mario has done very little in terms of correcting my technique in person. Susana was more active in this regard, so without her most of the suggestions came from my classmates – Helen being the best example but not the only one. I guess Kat did a little but only at the end when I practically demanded that she find faults with the way I was leading the move.

I’m guessing that I won’t opt for a third 6-week course in a row. I might return at a later time, but I think my basketball buddies would really like to have me back for the Tuesday games as they have been struggling with getting enough people this summer. It sounded like level 4 may not start for at least two more cycles by the way. Even if I don’t come back, attending these classes have led me to become better acquainted with people based in London – in particular Helen, Justin, Imi, Tracy, Gin, Anna, Roger, Simon, Sean, Denis, Julian, Jana, Monica, Janet, Andrew, Donna, Che, Pablo (as well as others whose names I didn’t quite get to learn).

My journey back to Cambridge was delayed by one of those damned scheduled engineering works. In addition to a later departure time, we had to take a bus from Stevenage to Cambridge. I ran into Thomas at Kings Cross; he was returning from a work-related meeting in Wales. I learned that he is from Slovenia of all places! Much of the time on the train and bus was spent talking about my work and thread of inquiry stemming from my work; I would have been content to talk about his work or gossiping (which we did a little) but Thomas seemed more interested in talking about things related to my field of expertise instead. Woolly Mammoth was featured prominently.

[A side note: Although this never came up in my conversations with Thomas, I had done some reading on Slovenian and Croatian histories (which seemed to be written with propaganda in mind mostly against Serbia but also against each other) and about the life of Marshall Tito this afternoon. This was done on a whim earlier today; interesting coincidence!]

Quote of the day - "No worries. We are not going anywhere." - Mario